Duality
by AngelOfBlades
Summary: A stranger appears in the Titan's City, bringing mysterious powers and more secrets. Chapter 2: A Day in the Life
1. Act One: Out of Place

**Chapter One: When in Rome...**

It was a fairly normal day in the City. People walking to and from work, car horns honking, a general backdrop of urban noise.

All, of course which was protected by the Five young inhabitants of the giant, T - Shaped tower on an island in the City's bay.

The Teen Titans.

Robin. Starfire. Beast Boy. Raven. And Cyborg.

The five young heroes who risked their lives daily so those less gifted then them didn't have to.

As they were about to do again...

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

SLAM! A flying body impacted the hood of a car, crumpling it.

The figure sat up and rubbed his head, which was still ringing from the impact.

"Bastard..." he muttered under his breath.

Not twenty feet away stood the target of his ire, a large (although not giant) robot.

Fifteen feet of gleaming metal, that despite it's skeletal construction, had so far proved to be extremely resilient, confounding his every attempt to destroy it.

"Let's try that again..." the figure muttered, pressing his hands together, with the third and fourth fingers folded down.

The figure's body was suddenly covered with a pulsing nimbus of white energy, surging greater strength through his body.

"Now I'm pumped," he said, smirking as the aura faded. "Take this!"

The figure charged forward, moving at least twice the speed he had before, and hit the robot with a powerful right hook. WHAM!

The construct appeared to barely notice. It grabbed the figure's shoulder and promptly threw him at a nearby building.

He flipped in midair, hitting the wall feet first, and used it as a springboard, kicking off and sailing back at the robot with a dual-footed flying kick.

SLAM!

His kick hit the robot square in the face, sending it flying into the pavement. CRASH!

"Yes!" he congratulated himself, but that didn't last long, as the machine promptly got back up again and charged him.

"Yaahhh!" With a yelp, he barely dodged the machine's right hook, and didn't dodge the left uppercut that followed. POW!

The figure flew into a second story window. CRASH! With a crunch of broken glass, he got up again, ignoring the shocked looks of the occupants, and jumped out the window.

The figure landed on the sidewalk immediately shouting a battlecry and charging the skeletal robot.

The two combatants traded blows for several seconds, both of them counting on the other making a mistake first.

The robot lost.

After ducking a slow punch of the machine's, the figure clasped his hands again.

After channeling for a second, the figure threw his hands open. The air between the two combatants rippled as the figure unleashed a blast of pure force at the robot.

BOOM!

Now _that_ did something. A huge dent formed in the metal monster's torso, and it flew into the side of a truck. CRASH!

But, despite the damage it had suffered, the robot got up again.

"Damn, you're persistent..." the figure groaned as it charged him.

He blocked it's first punch. And it's second. And it's third. It's fourth caught him square on the jaw, sending him careening into a newspaper stand.

He got up, with every intention of attacking again, but the robot beat him to the punch. It grabbed the tail of his long coat, swung him around, and threw him onto the roof of a nearby building.

"_This is going to be a long fight..."_ He thought, as he sat up and cracked his neck.

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

Titans Tower. The Main Room.

The Teen Titan, the protectors of the City, were hard at work honing their already incredible skills...

"OH YEAH! WHO'S THE CHAMP!"

... sort of.

"Honestly, must you make such a fuss about it?" droned a blue-robed girl with a thick book and pale skin. "It's only a game."

"Yes Raven, it is a game." replied a massive black teenager whose body seemed to be made almost entirely of blue and white metal. "WHICH I JUST WON! BOOYAH!

"Come on, Cyborg," said Cyborg's vanquished opponent, a short, thin, green-skinned boy with elfin ears. "Why do you always gloat whenever you win! And anyway," the boy continued, his eyes almost seeming to catch fire, "You cheated! I want a rematch!"

"Bring it on BB," growled Cyborg, "I'll take you anytime, anywhere!"

"Why do I even bother?" droned Raven, returning her attention to her book.

"Robin," a strange-looking orange-skinned girl with red hair asked, "Would you like to try some of this new recipe for Glorg?"

"Sure, Starfire." The boy with spiky hair, an eyemask, and a cape replied absentmindedly while typing on a computer.

Not even bothering to see what it was, Robin reached over, grabbed a spoon, and took a bite.

He instantly turned as green as Beast Boy.

Holding one hand over his mouth, he ran off in the direction of the bathroom.

"Hmmm... perhaps it needs more work..." Mumbled Starfire as she walked back to the kitchen.

Cyborg and Beast Boy looked symphetically in the direction of the bathroom, and resumed their game. They were well into their rematch game when the Titan Alert sounded.

As all the Titans gathered around, Robin, who still looked a little green, ran back for the bathroom and brought up the information on the Alert.

"It looks like there's some sort of robot running amok downtown." said Robin, typing furiously. As he continued reading, his eyemask narrowed.

"That's strange..." Robin almost whispered.

"What's strange?" asked Beast Boy.

"According to this report, someone has already engaged it." replied Robin in a puzzled voice.

"I wonder who that could be?" said Cyborg, voicing all the Titan's thoughts.

"A new friend, perhaps?" replied a hopeful sounding Starfire.

"We'll find out soon enough." said Robin grimly. "Titans, GO!"

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

With Cyborg in the T-Car, Robin on his R-Cycle, and Starfire, Beast Boy and Raven flying, the Teen Titans reached the scene in a matter of minutes.

What they saw was not a pretty sight.

The entire block was wrecked. There were holes in the street, holes in the buildings, holes in the windows, and holes just about everywhere there could be holes. Virtually every car had been at least partially smashed, and several looked like they had been thrown.

"Dude..." said Beast Boy in a disbelieving voice, "What could do all this?"

"Think maybe _he_ had something to do with it?" Raven asked sarcastically as she pointed.

At the other end of the street, a fifteen foot tall titanium skeleton had just thrown a car into the side of a building.

"You can't park there..." quipped Robin, drawing his metal staff.

"So we'll have to give you a ticket!" finished Cyborg, letting off a massive blast from his sonic cannon, which hit the metal monstrosity in the chest, blasting it off it's feet. POW!

Not staying down more than half a second, the skeletal machine jumped up and charged the Titans at an unbelievable speed.

"Titans, scatter!" ordered Robin, and they all jumped out of the way of the robot's berserker charge.

Cyborg, however, stood his ground, and grappled the charging robot, his titanium feet screeching against the concrete as he was pushed back.

"Man, this guy's strong..." Cyborg said in a strained voice, struggling to hold the massive machine.

The robot, rather then continue to push, reached over Cyborg and grabbed one of his ankles, which he used as leverage to hurl the android Titan high into the air.

No sooner then he did so, however, he was pelted with a flurry of green starbolts, and he turned to face Starfire, her eyes and hands glowing green.

"You will not harm my friends!" she yelled, hurling volley after volley of green energy at the skeletal machine.

The robot held it's forearms over it's face to defend itself, then countered with a pair of shoulder-mounted lasers, blasting Starfire into a building. ZAP!

Just before she hit, she found herself wrapped in a black energy field, being generated by Raven, her hands glowing black.

"Many thanks, friend." said Starfire, grateful for the rescue.

"Look out!" yelled Raven in response, as a flurry of lasers streaked towards then.

With a small "Eep!" from Starfire, both Titans dodged, Starfire throwing Starbolts, Raven small chunks of black-glowing rubble.

Pre-occupied with Raven and Starfire, the machine didn't notice the green rhino behind it until it slammed into it's backside, knocking it over. WHAM!

The green rhino morphed into a green gorilla, and began pummeling the downed robot. At least until the robot grabbed it's head and flung it into a wall, where the gorilla morphed back into swirly-eyed Beast Boy.

As soon as the skeletal construct got back on it's feet, one of Robin's grapples wrapped around it's neck.

Using the grapple for extra momentum, the Boy Wonder yelled a battle cry and hit the machine squarely in the face with a flying kick. SLAM!

The robot staggered back a few steps, then ripped off the grapple and charged Robin.

The Boy Wonder blocked most of it's hits with his staff, and returned with a few of his own, but a punch slipped through his defenses, and sent him flying back to where the other Titans had gathered.

"Man..." asked Cyborg in a bewildered voice "Just what is this thing made of? It takes everything we've got, then hits back twice as hard!"

"It doesn't matter." replied Robin grimly. "All that matters is that we stop it."

"Was there not supposed to be someone here already?" asked Starfire in a worried voice.

"Yeah," Beast Boy supplied, "What gives?"

CREAK! GROAN!

All the Titans looked towards the car the robot had thrown into the wall. After a couple of seconds, the car fell out, and one of the strangest looking figures the Titans had ever seen jumped out of the hole.

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

The figure had removed the car that blasted robot had thrown on him, and jumped out of the hole in the buildingside.

When he did, he was treated to five very puzzled stares from five of the strangest people that he had ever seen.

One of them, who was carrying a metal staff, was dressed in a red vest with a monogrammed "R" on the left side, a pair of green tights, a cape, and steel-toed boots.

Another had green skin - wait - GREEN SKIN! What the hell...?

The third was almost completely metal, with only the right side of his face not being mechanical.

The fourth had orange-tinted skin, red hair and was wearing a purple miniskirt and tube top.

The last had dark blue hair, a black leotard, and a blue cape.

"Who are you?" Asked the one with the "R" monogram.

"I could ask you the same question." he replied.

"Dude!" said the green one, sounding shocked, "You've never heard of us? We're-"

ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!

He was interrupted by a series of laser blasts from the robot. Apparently, the blasted thing was still ticking...

"Might I suggest we hold of introductions until AFTER we trash that thing!" The stranger said in an exasperated voice.

"Agreed." the monogrammed one responded. "Titans, GO!"

The five strangers charged the robot.

"I hope they don't die..." the stranger murmured to no one in particular.

After that, he channeled, the white energy further boosting his strength, then he charged as well.

The one in the skirt attacked first, launching a series of green energy bolts from her hands, which seemed to do little more then annoy the robot.

ZAP! It peppered her with laser blasts, forcing her to break off her attack and evade... leaving ample room for the cloaked one to slip in.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

The stranger had no clue what THAT did, but it must have done something, because a few seconds later, a nearby bus, glowing with black energy, slammed into the robot, forcing it off it's feet. CRASH!

"Did we get it?" the metal one asked.

"Of course not!" the stranger said exasperatedly, as the machine ripped off the top of the bus and charged out.

"Geez!" the green one said, "What the heck is this thing?"

"An enemy." replied the stranger, "Here, I'll show you what to do."

He ran in, ducking the robot's first swing, and taking the second in the stomach. POW!

This time however, he held his ground, despite the pain in his ribs. He smacked it's arm away, blocked another strike, knelt, and put all the force he could muster into a full-body uppercut.

WHAM!

The infernal machine flew a hundred feet into the air, then slammed into the pavement, making a large crater. CRASH!

"Woah!" exclaimed the green one, "How'd you do that!"

"Focus!" said the one with the "R", "He's not down yet."

The stranger looked, and indeed, the skeletal robot was getting up again.

"Damn it!" he swore, "I've never faced one this tough before!"

Interrupting his train of thought, the Titans charged again, yelling loud battlecries as they went.

Oh well. When in Rome...

"Rrraagggghhhh!"

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

Robin leapt into the air, and delivered a series of brutal staff strikes to the machine's head. Starfire continued to pelt it with starbolts, while Raven threw anything large and close at the machine.

"BB!" yelled Cyborg "Gimme a pickup!"

Beast Boy nodded, and morphed into a pterodactyl, then picked up Cyborg by the shoulders and carried him into the air.

"Eat this!" yelled Cyborg, taking potshots with his sonic cannon.

"I think it's weakening..." droned Raven, emotionless even in the heat of battle.

"Maybe." replied Robin, drawing a fan of explosive disks, "But it's not down yet. Keep at it!"

With that, the Boy Wonder hurled his disks, which produced a series of explosions that completely obscured the construct's form.

Despite everything done to stop it, the skeletal machine persevered. It charged Robin even before the smoke cleared, smashing it's fist into the surprised Boy Wonder's stomach. WHAM!

Robin flew back twenty feet, skipped on the ground, and slammed into a lamppost.

"Robin!" Starfire yelled, flying towards the downed Boy Wonder.

She was forced to retreat with a small "Eep!" as a barrage of laser fire streaked at her.

Determined to remove this obstacle, Starfire's hands and eyes glowed green, and she streaked towards the robot with a battlecry.

"Haaaaa!"

Starfire slammed her Starbolt-charged hands repeatedly into the infernal construct, putting several cracks in it's armor and sending it flying into a building on the other side of the street.

"Robin!" she exclaimed in a voice full of concern, and she flew over to assist the Boy Wonder.

Robin sat up and rubbed his head. "I'm fine, Starfire." Robin replied in a strained voice. "What about the robot?"

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

Raven chanted her standard magic words as several cars hovered behind her, glowing with black energy. She wasted no time in throwing them at the building the robot was in.

BOOM!

The entire building exploded in a spectacular fireball.

"That should do it." droned Raven. She turned and faced the other Titans. "Can we go home now?"

CRASH!

"Ooof!" With a loud exhalation of breath, Raven wis hit with a piece of debris from the recently destroyed building.

The robot walked out of the flaming building, to an expression of general disbelief among the Titans.

Up in the air, Cyborg and Beast Boy were still hovering. Cyborg looked up at Beast Boy and asked, "T-Rex Takedown?"

The pterodactyl promptly nodded, and morphed into a small armadillo.

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

The stranger's disbelief was no less then that of his comrades at the continued operation of the mechanical monster.

Deciding not the let it attack first, he charged it with a loud battlecry. The machine saw him coming, and got into a combat stance.

Dodging it's strike, he jumped, and delivered a physics-defying aerial bicycle kick to it's torso, following up with a powerful double-footed kick.

The robot reeled from the stranger's assault, and flipped backwards and landed on the ground.

He was about to continue his attack on the off-balance construct, but then he heard a battlecry behind him.

Turning to look, he saw that, apparently, the mechanical stranger had thrown a small green ball at the robot, and thus, him as well.

He was mystified - for about half a second.

Then the small green "ball" turned into a VERY large green T-Rex.

The stranger's eyed bulged.

Deciding that it would be an opportune moment to get the HELL out of there, the stranger scrambled frantically out of the way, as the green T-Rex barreled down on the stunned robot.

CRASH!

The T-Rex slammed into the machine feet-first, jumped off, flipped in midair, and, while doing so, transformed back into the green stranger - who promptly hit the pavement headfirst.

Ouch.

Hearing a second battlecry from the air, the stranger turned to see the mechanical one fall towards the downed automaton.

He converted both if his hands into some sort of energy weapon, waited until he had almost crashed, and fired.

BOOM!

There was a tremendous blast of blue energy that sent the cyborg flying back.

When it wasn't as bright, the stranger looked back at the downed robot.

It was STILL moving!

"I've had enough of this..." the stranger growled.

He charged towards the automaton, channeling as he went. When he was almost upon the machine, he jumped.

Landing on top of the robot, he pressed his hands against it's chest. With a scream, he unleashed a massive blast of force, point-blank.

BOOOOM!

The stranger saw a dome of silver power, and several flying robot pieces.

Then everything was just black...

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

Titan's Tower. The Medlab.

"Who is this guy?"

The question was asked by Beast Boy, but the same one was on everybody's mind. Who was this mysterious stranger?

Robin looked over the stranger's unconscious figure for the fourth time that minute. This look revealed nothing more then the last.

The stranger had the weirdest ensemble of clothes the Boy Wonder had ever seen. He was wearing a long coat which was black on the right side and white on the left. His hair and gloves were colored in the opposite manner: black on the left side and white on the right, and his hair was pulled in a short braid with strands of both colors.

He was wearing a pair if black combat boots, along with loose white cargo pants and a loose black tank top. His only other adornments were a pair of pearl earrings (one black, one white) a pendant with a black-and-white swirl, and a pair of black tattooed lines, running from his forehead, down through his eyes, and under his tank top.

His eyes had been the strangest part of him. Robin had only seen them once, when Cyborg had opened them to check for problems, but that once had been enough.

His eyes had been silver.

"Well," Cyborg said, "According to the monitors, he's just got a slight concussion, so he should be fine."

"Oh, excellent!" exclaimed a very happy Starfire, "Our new friend is undamaged!"

"Hold on a minute Starfire," Robin started to say, but Starfire interrupted him.

"To what?"

"...nevermind. Just wait a minute. As I was saying, we're not sure if he IS our friend."

"I do not understand! He helped us with the defeating of the robot, did he not?"

"Terra helped us as well." Raven said, her voice even more of a monotone then normal.

All the Titans lowered their heads, mulling over the same thought:

If this stranger was let into their lives, would he be a second Terra?

Robin sighed. "We'll worry about that when he wakes up. For now, Cyborg, oversee his recovery."

"Got it, man."

"Everyone else, go about business as normal."

The other Titans nodded.

"And Cyborg?"

"Yeah?"

"Call us as soon as he wakes up."

"Of course." Cyborg smirked. "Leave it to me."

"Alright then. Titans, dismissed."

Cyborg turned back to the monitors, and all the other Titans left the room.

Robin to the gym, the clear his head with a brisk workout.

Raven to the roof, to think and meditate.

Beast Boy to the Main Room, to relax with a few video games.

And Starfire to the kitchen, to whip up some "food" for their guest to consume upon his waking.

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

The Gym.

"Haaaa!" Robin let out a battlecry a he ruthlessly pummeled a punching bag.

WHAM! SLAM! SMACK! POW!

After several minutes of constant punches and kicks, Robin sat down next to the destroyed bag, wiping his face with his arm.

"Terra..."

Robin sighed. In his mind, Terra represented one of his worst personal failures. She had betrayed them. Sold them out to Slade. And he had never seen it coming.

Even after she sold them out, they STILL couldn't bring themselves to take her down. They held back.. And they almost died for it.

In the end, Terra did repent, stopping a volcano that would have destroyed the city.

But still...

Robin sighed again. If this stranger did become the new Sixth Titan, he was going to be a lot more careful...

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

The Main Room.

"Alright! New high score!"

Beast Boy put down the Gamestation controller, as he had just managed to beat Cyborg's all-time best high score in _Mega Monkeys 4_.

He looked out the window, and his thoughts drifted to the problem in the immediate future: the stranger.

"Will he really be like you, Terra...?" Beast Boy almost whispered.

Terra had been more then a friend to Beast Boy, he had loved her. With all his heart. He had no trouble admitting that to himself.

It was her he had trouble admitting it to...

He had never told Terra he loved her. Not when she was with them. Not when she turned. And not when she redeemed herself in the end, before she was turned to stone as a price for her heroism.

The game beeped, asking him if he wanted to play again, but he ignored it.

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

The Kitchen.

"Friend Beast Boy looks most melancholy..." Starfire said to herself as she looked into the Main Room.

She was brought out of her daze by the sound of one of her pots boiling over.

"Eep!" With a small sound of distress, she went to rescue her pot.

For it would never do to have burned Pudding of Happiness.

Pudding of Happiness... just the memory of it's divine taste filled the Tamaranian with joy.

Perfect for welcoming a new friend. For that was what Starfire was sure this stranger would be.

Starfire did remember Terra. But, unlike her compatriots, she gave more weight to the happy memories then the sad ones.

Terra trying - and liking - her Glorg. All the hugs. Terra's look upon seeing her room. The hugs. The "Braiding of the Hair". The hugs. And so many other memories.

Starfire smiled. It was looking to be a glorious day.

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

The Roof.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos."

The sound of Raven's rhythmic chanting permeated the still air.

Raven was meditating, hovering in a cross-legged position about a foot above the rooftop, and, for all intents and purposes, talking to herself.

FLASH!

Inside Raven's Mind.

"I don't get it, what's the problem?"

That rather loud question came from a person who appeared to be Raven - with a dark green cloak.

Brave Raven asked again, "What's the problem? If he's not a second Terra, we get a kickass teammate. If he is, we kick _his_ ass!"

"For once I agree with you - though not for the same reasons." Stated a yellow-cloaked Raven with large, round glasses.

"What's wrong with my reasons!" yelled Brave Raven.

"They're typical of you," replied Intellectual Raven. "Overconfident in the extreme. We have no solid guarantee we could defeat this person."

"Oh, yeah!" challenged Brave Raven, "Then what's YOUR great reason?"

"Simple." retorted Intellectual Raven, "The chances of this stranger emulating Terra's actions are less then seven point four five percent."

Brave Raven simply growled in response.

"But, that's still almost a one in ten chance, right?" a small-voiced Raven in a grey cloak broke in.

"Don't be so gloomy!" A cheery Raven in a pink cloak responded, "We're gonna get a new friend!"

"But - what if..." was all Sad Raven got out before Happy Raven interrupted her.

"Don't worry so much! Be happy!"

"Enough."

The blue-cloaked, "real" Raven had finally had it with her emotion's banter.

"We're going to proceed cautiously." Raven said firmly, "We cannot afford a repeat of last time."

Her emotions nodded with varying degrees of reluctance, then vanished.

With a sigh, Raven stepped out of her mind and back to the "real world"

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

The Medlab

Cyborg gave the monitors another glance. Vitals were steady, everything appeared normal. They hadn't done a physical exam, having determined it was unnecessary after seeing that he was stable and had nothing broken.

With his patient checked, Cyborg allowed his thoughts to drift...

His literally photographic memory allowed him to remember anything in perfect detail. Including the last incident with Terra. He remembered her heroism, her struggle, her last words, everything.

He knew that if this stranger was anything like Terra, then they'd be lucky to have him on the team.

But regardless, some measures would need to be taken. He had to guard against another betrayal - the last one had almost destroyed them.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Well, well, well." Cyborg said to himself, "Looks like our guest is awake."

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

_Ow..._

_My head hurts..._

_A lot..._

_Almost enough to drown out how much the rest of me hurt..._

_Almost._

The cracked open his eyes, and saw a blurry face.

"So, you're up."

He saw the face speak.

After a few seconds, the blurriness was gone, and he saw the face clearly.

It was the masked boy from before... the one with the "R".

He sat up as quickly as he could manage without passing out.

"Easy, easy." The masked boy said. "You've been out for a while, so take your time."

When he had managed to sit up, he looked around, thinking.

"_It looks like I was knocked out, and was brought to this medbay..."_

Also, all the other teenagers were there, to.

He managed to groan out "Where am I?"

"You're in Titan's Tower."

The stranger gave him a blank look.

"The big T-Shaped tower just outside the City."

Another blank look.

"You're not from around here, are you?"

He nodded. "Bingo."

"So," the masked boy asked "Where are you from?"

"A lot of places."

"Ookkaayy..." The masked boy responded, "so, who are you?"

"Hold up a second..." the stranger said raising his hand, "I think you should answer one of my questions first."

"Alright. Ask away"

"Who the heck are you people?"

"Duuuddeee! I cannot believe you don't know who we are! We're the Teen Titans!" the green one piped up.

The stranger turned his blank look to the speaker.

"The Teen Titans?" he repeated, almost questioningly.

Another blank look.

"Protectors of the City?"

He blank look became a blank stare.

He seemed to completely deflate. "I'm Beast Boy." he finish, sighing.

"And I am Starfire!" an... exceedingly... happy... voice added. The stranger turned and saw the red-haired girl in the miniskirt.

"I am most jubilant that you are well, prospective friend!"

"Ookkaayy..." he replied. _"She's certainly... exuberant."_

"Yo." A much deeper voice addressed me next. "I'm Cyborg."

The stranger turned to face the nearly all-metal teen. "Hey."

"Raven." a droning, monotonic voice was next to speak. The stranger looked behind Cyborg to see the pale-skinned girl in the blue cloak.

"It's a pleasure." She finished, in a voice that indicated she really didn't care.

The stranger sweatdropped. "Yeah... a pleasure..."

"And I'm Robin." The boy with the "R" said. "We're the Teen Titans."

"The Teen Titans, huh..." he trailed off. _"There's only one thing I want right now..."_

"Where's you shower?" he asked.

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

With the stranger installed in the bathroom, Beast Boy had been given the duty of washing his clothes.

"Man..." Beast Boy grumbled, "Don't even know his name and were washing his clothes."

He walked outside the bathroom, where a basket of the stranger's clothes waited to get picked up.

By simple happenstance, Beast Boy looked into the basket as he picked it up.

On top was a bra.

"What the...?" Beast Boy muttered, "Why would a guy have a bra?"

His curiosity roused, Beast Boy tiptoed over to the bathroom door, cracked it open, and peeked in.

He immediately blushed a deep red, shut the door as quietly as he could... and ran away in a gibbering frenzy.

Hearing a noise from the shower, the stranger, who had a decidedly NON-masculine figure, looked out, shrugged, and returned to her shower.

The Main Room.

"Aahhh!"

All of the Titans looked up as a deeply blushing Beast Boy ran screaming into the room and hid behind the couch.

"Friend Beast Boy! What is wrong?" asked a concerned Starfire.

The only answer she received was some ramblings which seemed to contain the words "girl" and "bra".

Upon hearing that, Beast Boy was promptly hoisted up by Raven's telekinesis.

"What did you do!"

Beast Boy groaned and fainted.

All of the Titans looked at Beast Boy's still figure and blinked.

"What happened?" Robin asked no one in particular.

"Hey!"

The Titans looked up and saw the bathrobe-clad Stranger walking in with her laundry basket on her shoulder.

With just a bathrobe on, the Titans could see that the line tattoos on her face apparently split and extended all over her body, as they could see several on her arms and legs.

But that didn't really register.

"Didn't you guys say that you'd wash my clothes for me?" The Stranger asked. Then she saw Beast Boy, laying passed out on the floor.

She leaned over him. "What's his problem?" she asked, poking him on the face.

Beast Boy's eyes slowly opened, and the first thing he was the stranger's face.

"AAHHH!" Beast Boy shrieked, morphed into a mouse, and hid in the corner.

"What's with him?" the Stranger asked, standing up and scratching her head.

All the other Titans were staring at her. Robin said something first.

"Y-y-you're a girl..." the Boy Wonder managed to stutter.

"Yeah. And...?" the Stranger responded, looking mystified.

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

With her shower done and clothes washed, The stranger appeared to finally be ready to give the Titans the answers that they wanted. Well, at least some of them.

The Titans had re-gathered in the main room, and were more then ready to hear what the stranger had to say.

"Okay, I'm sure that you're all bursting with questions, but I'll start with what you really want to know. My name."

The Titans drew an expectant breath.

"You may call me... Gemini."


	2. Training Day

**Chapter Two: Training Day**

Titan's Tower. The day after the battle with the robot.

"Yo Gem, wake up, will ya?"

_Go away..._

"Gem? GEM!"

_Must sleep..._

"Okay, then. You leave me no choice."

_...hmmm?_

SPLASH!

"Yaaaaaaaahhhhh!"

Gemini bolted upright, all traces of sleep gone. Someone had upended a bucket of water on her head.

That someone was about to have several body parts removed.

"What the HELL are you doing?" she yelled at Cyborg, the person responsible for her abrupt awakening.

"Just waking you up, Gem." The cyborg responded, "Robin asked me to."

"Why did Robin - wait," she said, pausing in mid-sentence and eyeing Cyborg, "WHAT did you just call me?"

"Gem." responded a nervous-sounding Cyborg, "You know, short for Gemini?"

Gemini thought that over for a second.

"Fine." She replied, "Just don't spread it around."

"Oookkaayyy..."

"Now." letting go of her frustration, she turned to the business at hand. "Why did Robin want you to wake me up?"

"Oh, right." Cyborg seemed to have temporarily forgotten about that. "Robin wanted to know if you wanted to train with us."

"Train with you?"

"Yeah. You know, combat training?"

"Oh. Sure, just let me get something to eat first."

"Alright. I'll come get you in half an hour?"

"Sounds fine."

Cyborg left the room, and Gemini got up from the couch where she'd been sleeping.

She went into the kitchen and sighed as she remembered a voice from the past.

"_I'll be with you always, my_ _precious little gem..._"

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

Titan's Tower. The Training room.

"Yo, everyone, we're here!" Cyborg yelled as he walked in with Gemini.

At Cyborg's call, the Titans all stopped their training and gathered around Gemini and Cyborg.

"Gemini. Glad you could join us." Robin said as he walked up.

"No problem." Gemini responded, "After yesterday, I kind of wanted to get a better look at some of your powers, anyway."

Robin chuckled. "That can be arranged."

"Alright, Titans," Robin yelled, switching into 'Leader Mode', "Let's show Gemini what we can do."

All of the Titans ran to the center of the room, and group exercises began.

A number of metal balls shot from the ceiling, screaming at the Titans with enough force to shatter bone.

SMASH! CRASH! SLAM!

They never even got close.

At the last second, Raven put up an obsidian shield around the Titans, protecting them from harm.

"Haaaaa!" ZAPZAPZAPZAP! Before the ball launchers could fire again, Starfire flew up and destroyed them with a flurry of Starbolts.

ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!

A bank of lasers folded out of the wall and begun firing on the Titans.

Raven raised another shield to block the lasers, which Robin jumped over, a fan of Birdarangs in each hand.

"Erraaggh!" With a battlecry, Robin hurled all his Birdarangs, each one hitting a laser, destroying them all in a flurry of explosions.

RUMBLE, RUMBLE!

A giant metal ball was rolling towards Robin, which he jumped over, leaving it heading straight for Beast Boy.

Beast Boy morphed into an elephant, caught the ball on his tusks, and threw it into the air.

Cyborg caught the ball, which he threw back at the machine that had launched it, destroying the machine with a spectacular explosion.

BOOOM!

When the smoke cleared, each of the Titans was standing, posing, in the middle of the room.

Gemini emerged from the smoke on one side of the room coughing and clapping.

"That was impressive," Said Gemini. "Now I want to spar against you even more."

"You want to spar against us?" asked Robin "Who?"

"One of you, all of you, doesn't matter to me."

"Well, ok." replied Robin, who had a bit of a smirk on his face. "How about you spar against Beast Boy for now."

"Alright."

"Huh!" Beast Boy practically shrieked, "Why me!"

"Because, I think that you're best." answered Robin.

"What! Why!"

"I want to get a good measure of her skills. Your multiple forms are best for that."

"Fine..." Beast Boy grumbled, heading for the center arena.

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

Both Beast Boy and Gemini stood in the center of the Gym, each on opposite sides of the large circle that was the "center arena".

"Alright!" called Robin, "Remember, this is just a practice match, so nothing TO extreme."

Beast Boy and Gemini nodded.

"Good. Now..." Robin raised his hand in the air, then dropped it as he yelled, "Fight!"

Beast Boy morphed into a green bull, and charged at Gemini.

Gemini didn't try to dodge. She just clasped her hands in the same manner she had against the robot.

FLASH! A white aura briefly surrounded Gemini, and the tattoos on her face glowed white.

"Haaaaa!" As Beast Boy neared, Gemini shouted a battlecry and grabbed him by his horns.

With a firm grip on Beast Boy, Gemini twisted, and kicked one of his front legs out from under him.

His balance lost, Beast Boy tumbled, giving Gemini a chance to use all the momentum he had built up. Using his horns as handles, Gemini flipped him up into the air, and then threw him. CRASH! He landed backside-down on the floor, creating a small crater.

Not wanting to lose the advantage, Gemini jumped up into the air, then slammed the ground where Beast Boy was lying with a massive two-handed smash.

SLAM!

"Beast Boy!" Starfire yelled, and she began to float over to his aid, but Robin stopped her with a raised arm.

"Robin, friend Beast Boy needs help! We must..." she started, but Robin cut her off.

"Look."

Surveying the battle more closely, with the dust from Gemini's attack clearing, Starfire saw only the form of Gemini, still crouched from her attack.

"Hmmm?"

Starfire looked puzzled, but her face brightened when she spotted a green... mouse?

In a rare display of tactical thinking, Beast Boy had changed into a mouse to avoid the brunt of the attack. He was still hit by the shockwave, which had been strong enough to cover the floor with cracks, but he was mostly unharmed.

Something Gemini apparently hadn't counted on.

POW!

Changing into a gorilla, Beast Boy delivered a powerful uppercut to Gemini's chin, sending her flying. Before she landed, Gemini flipped in the air, landing solidly on her feet.

WHAM!

Just in time to take another punch for Beast Boy.

CRACK! CRUNCH! POW!

Beast Boy delivered three more punches to Gemini's midsection before she could react. Sensing victory, he drew back his fist, and launched his knockout punch.

Gemini caught it.

Beast Boy's gorilla-face scowled. He swung with his other fist, determined to end the match there.

She caught that one to.

Beast Boy scowled again. Using all of his gorilla strength, he pushed as hard as he could.

Gemini didn't budge. Grinning, she began to push back.

Beast Boy's eyes widened in surprise. _What's going on! You're not supposed to be able to win a grappling match with a gorilla!_

_Well, _he thought, _If a gorilla won't do it, maybe _THIS _will!_

With that thought, Beast Boy again changed forms, this time into a green elephant, with Gemini's hands gripping his tusks.

Using all of his impressive elephant strength and bulk, he started to push again. This time, Gemini began to slide backwards.

Her eyes narrowed.

"That's how you want to play, huh?" Gemini growled, her teeth clenched, "Then I'll play that way to!"

Suddenly, she pushed herself off Beast Boy, falling to the ground and letting go of Beast Boy's tusks. The obstacle gone, Beast Boy charged forward uncontrollably, unable to stop himself, over the prone form of Gemini.

However, Gemini had apparently calculated that, as his legs went on either side of her, keeping her from being crushed.

With Beast Boy distracted, Gemini jumped up and turned to face Beast Boy, who had managed to stop and was turning to face her.

Gemini clasped her hands, and began channeling again.

The white aura returned, and her tattoos glowed even brighter then before. As she finished, a small shockwave rolled off of her, further agitating the already unstable floor.

Trumpeting, Beast Boy charged again, confidant in his elephant form's strength.

Gemini braced herself, ready to receive the changeling's charge.

WHAM!

Beast Boy had slammed into Gemini, going full tilt, and Gemini was once again being pushed back while gripping his tusks.

This time, however, the two of them slowed down. Even putting all of his strength into the charge, Beast Boy couldn't push Gemini back.

Then Gemini grinned.

Beast Boy's eyes bulged as Gemini lifted Beast Boy off the ground, and, using his tusks for handles, held him over her head.

Still holding Beast Boy, Gemini jumped high into the air, and started spinning. Whirling faster and faster, when Gemini reached the apex of her jump, she threw Beast Boy down as hard as she could.

CRASH!

The abused gum floor couldn't take it.

SMASH!

Rather then landing ON the floor, Beast Boy instead went THROUGH the floor, crashing into the floor below.

BOOM!

A huge cloud of dust filled the gym, sending all the Titans into fit of coughing.

"Beast Boy!" Starfire yelled, flying into the hole to retrieve him.

"Sorry..." A sheepish looking Gemini walked out of the dust cloud, grinning nervously and rubbing the back of her head. "I didn't mean for him to go _through _the floor, just land _on _it. I guess I had done more damage to it then I thought..."

At that moment, Starfire flew out of the hole, carrying a slightly battered and rather disoriented Beast Boy.

"Oohhhh... anyone get the number of that semi truck?" Beast Boy quipped dazedly.

"Sorry about that," Gemini said, still embarrassed, "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine once my head stops spinning..."

The dust settled, giving the Titans a look at their gym. Almost half the floor had collapsed , and a good portion of the equipment had fallen into the room below.

"Well... I guess we can't use this room for a while..." Robin mused, looking thoughtful.

"Alright!" Beast Boy perked up at once. "No more training!"

"...so we'll have to train on the outside obstacle course instead."

Beast Boy perked down. "No... not more training!"

"Yes more training. Titans, meet at the obstacle course."

As the Titans (and Gemini) were leaving, Robin pulled Raven aside.

"Raven," whispered Robin, glancing at Gemini's departing back, "What did you sense from Gemini during her fight with Beast Boy?"

"You mean 'did I sense hostile intent'?" Raven replied, droning as always. "No, nothing like that. It appears to be nothing more then an accident. However..."

"However what?"

"During the times when she did that power-boost, I sensed something... strange."

"What was it?"

"I'm not sure how to describe it... it was like... just for a second, something... massive... superceded her consciousness. Whatever it was, I couldn't read anything from it."

"Hmmm..." Robin, put his hand on his chin, thinking. "It could just be a part of her powers... but keep a close eye on her anyway."

"That was my intention."

Robin nodded, and they both walked out the door, hurrying to catch up to the other Titans.

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

Titan's Island. The Obstacle Course.

"Alright, let's get started."

Robin was currently standing at a control panel on a small rise which overlooked the deceptively empty-looking ground which was the Titan's obstacle course.

Surrounding him were Gemini and all of the Titans, sans-Cyborg.

"Cyborg, you'll be the first to do a run-through. On my mark, begin. You're shooting for a time less then three minutes." Robin said to the android Titan.

"You got it!" Cyborg replied eagerly.

"Alright. Ready... mark!"

"Rrraaggghhh!" With a battlecry, Cyborg charged forward, right into the proverbial lion's den.

SHINK! SHINK! SHINK!

An intricate pattern of whirling blades popped up from the ground in front of Cyborg. The android jumped over the first one, ducked the second, and blocked the third and fourth on his forearms before running past them.

The timer read: 0:29. One obstacle down, four to go.

Still running at full tilt, Cyborg almost missed the circular pit that opened up in front of him.

With a shout of surprise, Cyborg jumped the pit and kept running. He hadn't gone two steps before another pit opened.

Half-expecting this one, Cyborg easily leaped over the pit.

ZAP! ZAP!

However, he had neglected to notice the lasers on either side.

Although the lasers had knocked him off-balance, he still managed to land on the other side of the pit. Spinning, he changed his arm into a sonic cannon and fired two quick blasts at the lasers.

SHOOM! SHOOM!

With the lasers destroyed, Cyborg turned away and kept running.

Timer: 1:05. Three obstacles left.

SHOOP! SHOOP! SHOOP!

Three cylinders with a pair of electrically crackling prongs on top of them came out of the ground, as well as a metal ball that floated up about thirty feet, then stopped.

Running at them, Cyborg armed his sonic cannon, aimed, and–

CLICK!

The ground under his left foot sank slightly. Bearly enough to make him stumble. However, as soon as he stepped on that patch of ground, one of the cylinders shot a bolt of lightning at the metal ball, which redirected it towards Cyborg.

ZAP!

"Aw man-" was all Cyborg had time to say before the lightning blasted him off his feet. He landed twenty feet away, and was getting up when...

CLICK! ZAP!

Another lightning bolt, this one Cyborg bearly managed to dodge.

CLICK! ZAP!

Dodge.

CLICK! ZAP!

Dodge.

By this time, Cyborg was getting fed up, so, while dodging lightning bolts, he armed his sonic cannon, and fired at the metal ball.

BOOM!

His sonic cannon blast hit it at the same time as one of the lightning bolts. This caused the bolt to rebound, destroying the lightning generators.

1: 38. Two more obstacles.

BUZZ!

Cyborg looked behind him. Following him was a swarm of what looked like metal bees.

Cyborg growled, and pointed his sonic cannon over his shoulder.

SHOOM!

The blast scattered the insects, but they quickly got back in formation, still following Cyborg.

Cyborg sweatdropped. Fortunetly for him, the insects weren't very fast.

SHINK! SHINK! SHINK!

Unfortunetly, he had just reached the last obstacle.

"Crrruuuud!" the android yelled.

The last obstacle was a trio of spear-tipped tentacles.

Cyborg grit his teeth and charged forward.

SLAM! CRASH!

The first two tentacles slammed into the ground, and would have skewered Cyborg if he hadn't jumped.

SWOOSH!

The third tentacle struck while he was in midair.

Thinking quickly, Cyborg shifted his weight and lifted his arm, causing the tentacle to miss by a fraction of an inch. Cyborg then closed his uplifted arm, grabbing onto the tentacle.

The tentacle lifted the android Titian up into the air and tried to shake him off.

Cyborg growled and armed his sonic cannon. SHOOM! He fired at the base of the tentacle, effectively severing it, sending it, and by proxy him, flying.

"AHHHHHH-oof!" Cyborg landed on his back, still gripping the tentacle.

BUZZZZZ!

And the metal insects were still following him.

"Rraaagggghhh!" With a roar, Cyborg hefted the tentacle and swung it like a baseball bat, smashing through the cloud of insects.

SHINK! SHINK!

The other two tentacles, attracted by the movement, had attacked the one Cyborg was holding, and, based on the way it was sparking, had ruptured something critical.

Cyborg's eye bulged. He started to run away, but–

BOOOOM!

The tentacle exploded first.

The explosion catapulted across the finish line, where he landed with a pronounced THUD!

Dazedly, Cyborg got up and looked at Robin. "What was my time?" He asked breathily.

Robin looked at the blinking timer.

"Two minutes, Thirty-Eight seconds."

"Booyah!"

"Alright then," Robin said, turning his attention back to the console, "Starfire, you're up next."

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

Titan's Tower. The Main Room. That Evening.

"Duuudddeee, I hurt all over."

That was the third complaint voiced by Beast Boy in as many minutes. After their extensive training regimen was complete, the Titans all returned to the Main Room, mostly content to lounge until their bodies told them it was time to sleep.

Mostly. Robin, was, as almost always, doing some sort of work or another. And Beast Boy was being, well... Beast Boy.

"Duuudddeee..."

"Beast Boy, be _QUIET_."

Beast Boy's fourth complaint was cut off by Raven, who was currently engrossed in whatever ancient book had caught her fancy.

"But I–" Beast Boy started, but was again cut off by Raven.

"Hurt, I know. Now either hurt in here in silence, or hurt and complain somewhere else."

"She's got a point, BB," Said Cyborg, who was busily beating Beast Boy's record on _Mega Monkeys 4_. "I wouldn't have felt a thing."

"You're body's metal!"

Cyborg shrugged and returned to his game.

"Come on!" Beast Boy pleaded to everyone in the room, "How about some sympathy! I got zapped, beaten and crushed on an obstacle course, slammed through a floor–"

"I said I was sorry for the floor thing." Gemini interjected, writing in a small white book with a black stripe running through the center.

"Beast Boy, the solution is simple." said Robin, not looking up from his typing, "If you train more, you'll get better. If you get better, you'll get hurt less. So just train more."

"But training hurts!"

"But It'll be better for you in the long run."

"So, you're saying that if I hurt more, then I'll hurt less?"

"Exactly."

By that point in the conversation, Beast Boy was throughly confused, so he decided to just drop it.

"Friend Beast Boy!" A jubilant Starfire floated into the room, carrying a large bowl. "This will ease your pain, try some!" Starfire showed him the bowlful of unidentifiable blue gelatin.

Beast Boy turned even greener.

"Uh... no thanks, Star. I think I'll pass."

"But it will truly make you feel much–"

"I'll have some."

All of the Titans turned to the speaker with horrified looks on their faces. Except, of course, for Starfire, who's face lit up like the sun.

"Friend Gemini, would you truly like to have some of my Mor'thul Habbar?"

"Sure." responded Gemini, who was indeed the speaker. "I'm a little hungry after all that training." She glanced at the other Titans, her eyebrow raised curiously. "What?"

Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy immediately returned to whatever they were doing, making a point not to look at Gemini. Raven just shook her head slightly and returned to her book.

Gemini shrugged, took the bowl Starfire offered her, and ate a spoonful. She chewed it thoughtfully for a second, and then swallowed. "What is this?" She asked, still trying to place the flavor.

"Oh!" Starfire responded, delighted that someone was curious about the ingredients of her cooking. "The Mor'thul Habbar, or 'Feast of Warriors' is the extract of a fungus that grows on my home planet of Tamaran. However, in the absence of this fungus, I instead used the blue fuzz in our refrigerator!"

All of the Titans turned back to her looking both shocked and disgusted. Robin, perhaps in memory of the previous day's Glorg fiasco, turned green and ran off in the direction of the bathroom.

"Robin!" Yelled Starfire, flying after the retreating Boy Wonder, "What is wrong!"

"Hmmm..." Gemini took another bite of the Mor'thul Habbar. "You guys have any salt?"

The Titans still in the room facevaulted.

**--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------T--------**

_Dual! Were are you?_

_I'm here!_

_Oh, thank ... You're alright_.

_Of course I'm alright, ya big moron!_

_Ow! Do you really have to punch my arm like that..._

Titan's Tower. The Main Room. Early the next morning.

Gemini woke up in a cold sweat.

_One of those dreams again..._ She thought, _Damn. I thought that I'd stopped_ _having them a while ago._

Gemini pulled off her blanket and sat up on the couch.

"I need some air..."

She walked off towards the elevator. As she reached the doors, she glanced back at the couch, where her coat and boots lay.

She waved her hand dismissively. "Eh, I'm not goin' far."

She hit the button for up, and, when the doors opened, she walked into the elevator.

The Roof.

With a 'Ding' the elevator stopped, and the doors opened.

Gemini walked out. A cold wind blew across the Tower's roof. She shivered slightly.

She was cold in just her cargos and tank-top."Maybe I should've worn my coat..."

The sun was just rising over the waters of the Bay. Gemini walked to the edge of the roof and sat down, her legs dangling over the edge.

"You're up early."

Gemini looked behind her, searching for the source of the voice. Levitating lotus-style on top of the elevator housing was Raven.

"Any reason I shouldn't be?"

"No, not really." replied the dark Titan.

With that, Raven returned to her meditation, and Gemini turned back to the sunrise.

Neither spoke for several minutes.

"Why are you up here, anyway?"

Gemini turned, a little surprised at the question.

"I needed some air. Why, am I bothering you?"

"Somewhat."

"Hmmm..." "

More silence.

You're an empath, aren't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"The way you talk, mostly. I've met other empaths before, and they all have a similar way of speaking."

"Really..."

"They speak with an... unusual amount of insight."

"..."

"Raven?"

"Why are you here?"

"I thought I answered that already."

"Not 'here' on the roof, 'here' in this Tower, in this City."

"Oh. Well, I'm in this Tower because Robin invited me. As for the City... well... why not?"

"Why not?"

"I'm a drifter. I drift. I just happened to drift into this City."

"Where did you 'drift' before you were here?"

"..."

"Well?"

"No place that you've heard of."

Gemini turned back to the sunrise.

"Sunrises are beautiful, aren't they?"

Raven merely stared at the back of her head, as if she were trying to dissect Gemini with her gaze.

"I'm goin' back inside. I'll see you later."

With that, Gemini walked back to the elevator, and went back inside.

Raven stared at the sunrise for a long time after she left.

"What do you really want here, Gemini...?" She said to nobody. With that, she walked back to the elevator and went back inside.


End file.
